Who Are You (please include a picture): Josh DodsonHome Town (City, State): Danville, VAHomebrew Club: Trainwreck BrewersI've been a homebrewer since: 2011Do you have a homebrewing disaster you'd like to share? Spent the day brewing a Blackberry Pale Ale only to shatter the carboy when transferring it to the closet. Our bathroom still smells like skunky hops from time to time.What is your favorite style(s) to brew? All of them, but since my wife is a hophead, we always have an IPA keg in the keezer.What style(s) will you never brew? LagerWhat was the first beer you ever brewed? How did it turn out? A Vanilla Bourbon Stout, it turned out amazing. Have you ever had a homebrew mistake that turned out great? I would never admit it was a mistake if it turned out great. What is your favorite beer recipe? I am trying to perfect a Citra and Galaxy hopped IPA recipe. My wife and I brewed one for our wedding and it was the best IPA we have ever brewed.Are you a BJCP Judge? If so, what is your rank and how long have you been judging? No, I am not, but I am interested in becoming one.Do you have a good beer judging story you'd like to share with the rest of the homebrewing world? NoDo you have a favorite homebrew trick or gadget that you've found to make your beer better/brewing easier, etc? We use a hop bag(5 gallon paint strainer bag mounted on a PVC base) for extensively hopped beers. It greatly speeds up the transfer from the boil kettle to the fermenter.Describe your brew system. 48 Quart Coleman Extreme Cooler with CPVC manifold. 7 gallon turkey fryer setup for boil. 6 gallon carboys.How frequently do you brew (times/month or /year)? Used to brew every two weeks or so when we were bottling, now it is more like once a month.What is your favorite malt? Why? Maris Otter. I think it provides a better body than two-row. I also enjoy the biscuit like flavors it provides. What is your favorite hop? Why? Galaxy I love the passionfruit notes it provides when used as a late addition/dry hopDo you have a favorite or house yeast? What qualities do you like about that yeast? WLP300 My favorite style of beer to brew in the summer is a good German Hefeweizen. I prefer the heavier banana and clove notes this yeast provides Do you have a good homebrew club story you'd like to share? Starting last year, we participated in the Brightleaf Brewfest in Danville, VA. We were able to talk to people about the hobby we love and we were able to give out 2 ounce samples of our homebrew. It was a great experience to see the reaction from people that had no clue what you could brew at home. We will be doing it again this November.What haven't we asked that you would really like to answer? I am a proud Virginia Tech graduate. Go Hokies!If you could serve your homebrew to someone famous, who would it be and what would you give her/him?Ric Flair, it doesn't matter what beer it is, I just want him to drink it and then yell out his trademark WHOO!Can you send a picture or two of some labels you've created for your homebrew? I have never done any labels.What's the most unusual ingredient you've ever used in a brew? Bailey's Irish Cream for an Irish Car Bomb StoutDo you have any pets or kids named after beer styles or ingredients? Not yet, but that is a great idea.How many medals have you won from homebrew competitions? I have never entered my beers in any competitions, but plan to do so soon.Do you brew alone, with friends or with someone you live with? With my wife and friends in the brew club.Are you an indoor or outdoor brewer? I prefer to brew outdoors.List some of the names you've given your beers. Which is your favorite? Much like farmers who have cows, chickens etc., I don't name my beers because I don't want an emotional attachment to something that I plan on consuming very quickly.

I certainly do appreciate everyone's feedback. I read the exact same section of the code of virginia and I interpreted it the same way. I sent an email to Virginia ABC today to get clarification. The problem is that the same ABC agent allowed us to serve homebrew in the VIP tent of the local beer festival, so we are treading lightly so we don't rock the boat and ruin that opportunity. If any of you saw the moonshiners show on the discovery channel, our ABC agent is the same one on season 1 of that show(Jesse Tate), so you can draw your own conclusions.

My club is in the Northern VA area and we meet in a room at a local bar. There's no problem bringing and tasting homebrew as long as we limit each pour to 2 oz. We've visited other local bars for the occasional meeting and have been able to pour at those places as well.

I wish someone would talk to our ABC representation down here. That is the way I interpreted the law as well, but in conversations with people who have talked to him, he will not allow sampling of homebrew in a local bar even if the samples are kept to two ounces.

Served the Citra and Galaxy APA at my wedding and it was a hit. It was far and away the favorite of my wife and I out of the 3 we had at the wedding. 15 gallons of homebrew was gone in about 4.5 hours.

We have a small homebrew club named the Trainwreck Brewers in Danville, VA. We were experiencing decent growth with our involvement in the local beer festival, discounts at the local craft beer shops, and a permanent meeting location in a building next door to one of the craft beer shops in town. The building was also owned by the owner of a craft beer shop and actually had an open entrance into the shop itself, but because of the seperate address, it didn't affect their ABC license. We had about 15-20 active members and seemed to be getting a new person about every month. Since that time, the craft beer store has changed owners and the current ownership has other plans for the meeting spot. We haven't been able to secure a new permanent meeting spot despite interest from many local merchants and businesses in the area. The Virginia ABC has told them it would affect their current ABC license. Because of this, we meet at different members houses each month. Active membership has dropped down to about 6-8 and we haven't seen a new member in a long time. I have heard this is a common problem, but I sent out an email to all of the listed homebrew clubs in VA with only 1 response. I was wondering if anyone had any insight into this issue, especially in VA.

I just did an APA with 1 ounce of Citra for bittering, Galaxy at flameout, and 2 ounces of Galaxy dry hopped. The passionfruit notes really came through with the aroma and the flavor out of primary fermentation. I can't wait to try it next week before I keg it.

If anyone is looking for a hotel near the Marriott, try the Loews across the street - its close (a stumble across Market St) and they have some rooms available at reasonable rates (I found a room as cheap as the Conference hotel)- I suspect the lower rates will be unavailable soon though.

I concur. I booked a room at the Loews through Priceline for 127 a night.